Chicago Lottery Winner Died From Cyanide Poisoning Day After Collecting $1mil Jackpot

Another reason why you don't want to win the lotto....

Last June, Urooj Khan, a 46-year-old who owned several dry cleaners in Chicago, won a cool million in the Illinois lottery. He reacted in an appropriate enough way, yelling "I hit a million, I hit a million!" repeatedly before leaving the 7-Eleven, only to return after a few moments to tip the store's clerk $100. Several weeks later, at a ceremony where he was presented with an oversized check, Khan said "Winning the lottery means everything to me." Khan added he had plans to donate some of the post-taxes sum of $425,000 to a local children's hospital and then invest the remaining cash into his business.

Happy enough story so far, right? Well, exactly one day after the Comptroller's office cut the check, Khan was found dead, with no signs of trauma. Authorities initially ruled the death the result of natural causes, but after a request from one of Khan's relatives, did an "expanded screening." Now, six months after the initial ruling, authorities are saying Khan died after ingesting cyanide.

"It's pretty unusual," said Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina, commenting on the rarity of cyanide poisonings. "I've had one, maybe two cases out of 4,500 autopsies I've done."

Chicago police launched a homicide investigation and will likely exhume Khan's body. As for the money, the check was cashed August 15th, three weeks after Khan's death, presumably by a relative or someone representing his estate.

CHICAGO - The widow of a Chicago lottery winner who died of cyanide poisoning says she has no idea who in their family asked that authorities take the deeper look into what originally was believed to be a death by natural causes.

Shabana Ansari spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday, a day after news emerged that her husband's death in July was the result of cyanide poisoning.

Prosecutors, Chicago police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office are investigating 46-year-old Urooj (oo-ROOJ') Khan's death as a homicide. But they have not given any details, announced any suspects or ascribed any possible motive.

They've also not identified the relative who asked for a deeper look into Khan's death. Ansari said she didn't make the request and didn't know who did.